Klaipeda continues to lead Baltic ports by cargo traffic

VILNIUS – Klaipeda remained the busiest Baltic seaport by cargo traffic, falling behind only the Russian ports in the Gulf of Finland in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, according to the latest figures from the port of Klaipeda.

The Lithuanian port saw its cargo volumes decrease by 1.6 percent year-on-year to 25.507 million tons in January through July.

Riga recorded a 15 percent decrease in cargo traffic to 11.634 million tons. Ventspils saw cargo volumes slump by 15.5 percent to 6.615 million tons and Liepaja posted a 6.8 percent increase to 3.791 million tons.

The Port of Tallinn handled 11.168 million tons of cargo in the first half of this year, up 9.1 percent year-on-year. It has not published its cargo traffic figures for the seven-month period yet.

Lithuania's Butinge oil terminal, which is owned by Orlen Lietuva, handled 3.825 million tons of crude in January through July, down 14.1 percent year-on-year.

Three Russian ports maintained their tonnage lead over all other ports in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, with cargo volumes up by 0.5 percent to 61.510 million tons in Ust Luga, up by 4.9 percent to 36.289 million tons in Saint Petersburg and down by 4.9 percent to 30.224 million tons in Primorsk.

The port of Kaliningrad recorded a 5.4 percent decrease to 5.938 million tons for January-July.